On the 25th
& 26th of December 2013 the cruiseferry Pont-Aven from Brittany Ferries was
docked in Antwerp on her Maiden Call. It was the first time in history that a
cruiseferry visited our city. Normally the 184 meters long ship sails between
the UK, Ireland France and Spain, but the company decided to deviate from their normal
schedule and sail some special holiday cruises.

The
Pont-Aven is not a cruise ship but a cruiseferry. A cruiseferry differs from a
cruise ship in the fact that it can take cars and trucks onboard. To make this
possible the ship has three car decks with a total capacity of 650 vehicles. But other than that the interior
is not different from many other cruise ships. The Pont-Aven is also equipped
with a cinema, a swimming pool, a SPA-center, a casino and many more facilities.

In 2003 the
keel of the Pont-Aven was laid at the Meyer Werft in Papenburg, Germany. In
2004 the ship was then delivered to Brittany Ferries. In 2012 the Pont-Aven
went into dry dock for a refurbishment. During the dry dock period the
SPA-center was added. With this new facility the ship was unique in the English
Channel.

With the overnight
call of the Pont-Aven the cruise season of Antwerp for 2013 has ended. This
year the city got a total of 16 cruisecalls from 12 different ships. This is
considerable drop to 2012 when we had 26 calls. But the season of 2014 is
looking bright as we already have 27 cruisecalls booked. The statistics of the
last 6 years can be found here.

During our exclusive visit onboard the ship we were able to take some interior photos. Below you will find a selection of the photos. More photos will soon be placed on a separate page on the website.

The Pont-Aven is a very pleasant ship with a colourful interior. With its beautiful lounges, restaurants and entertainment the company tries to make your stay onboard as pleasant as possible. Also the friendly and helpful crew is always there when you have a question or need help.